During operation, fluids such as air are pulled from the atmosphere into an engine and used to generate energy to propel the vehicle. The fluids may contain undesirable particles, such as sand and dust, which may cause issues for engine components. In order to prevent such issues, at least a portion of the undesirable particles are removed from the fluids using an inlet particle separator, such as an inertial inlet particle separator.
A conventional inertial inlet particle separator typically includes a duct system with a fluid inlet that transitions into 1) a scavenge channel that forms an in-line fluid path with the fluid inlet and 2) a clean channel that branches off from the in-line fluid path. As the name suggests, inertia tends to cause the particles to travel in a straight line rather than follow the curved fluid flow path. This being the case, particles and a portion of the air carrying the particles tend to flow straight into the scavenge channel rather than curve into the clean intake channel. As such, the clean air is separated from the contaminated air and guided into the engine. The contaminated air is guided from the scavenge channel into a blower or other type of suction source and discharged. Approximately 15-25% of the fluid entering the fluid inlet typically enters the scavenge channel, while the remaining fluid and lighter particles enter the clean channel. As designed, the fluid entering the scavenge channel includes most of the larger particles such that only a small percentage of particles enter the engine through the clean channel, thereby protecting engine components.
Although some conventional inertial inlet particle separators are successful in providing relatively clean fluid to the engine, it may be challenging to efficiently remove particles. This is particularly true with respect to fine particles, especially in a design that utilizes swirl airflow, centrifugal forces, and/or particle momentum for collection. This may result in poor separation efficiency for smaller particles, which may lead to erosion, obstruction, or glassing issues.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide improved methods and systems for separating particles from inlet fluid for a vehicle engine, particularly for small particles. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.